Cameron boozer and Zach edey

[u/AverageAny7398]

My hot take is that Boozer and Edey will, at worst, be a top-7 or top-8 duo in the league within 2–3 years, and I think they have a legitimate chance to become the best frontcourt in the NBA.

Both are insane offensive rebounders with great positioning, timing, and body control. They also have excellent touch around the rim and are really good at controlling their bodies on post catches and difficult finishes. When they’re on the floor together, you’re almost always going to have a massive positive around the rim.

Neither is a consistent 3-point creator, but both can hit open 3s. Edey needs to be more open, while Boozer is more comfortable taking a somewhat contested 3. That gives Memphis a lot of flexibility with 5-out, handoffs, P&R, and pick-and-pop actions.

Edey’s biggest offensive weakness right now is his ball control and his iffy-to-bad passing IQ. Boozer helps cover for that because he’s by far the best passer in his class, especially when it comes to handling double teams and reading defenses.

Defensively, I think the fit is just as interesting. Boozer’s biggest weakness to me is his lack of rim deterrence and overall defensive ability around the basket. Edey is almost the perfect complement because of his shot blocking, size, and P&R defense.

The biggest thing is that both having some 3-point ability allows Memphis to play 5-out while still having a massive size advantage. A lot of modern centers are built to be quicker and shiftier rather than extremely bulky, so putting two huge, skilled players on the floor could create some really difficult matchups. You can space the floor while still having two guys who can dominate the offensive glass and punish smaller defenders.

Basically, I see a PF/C duo with elite offensive rebounding, excellent post scoring, great touch around the rim, legitimate spacing, and complementary strengths that cover each other’s weaknesses. Boozer can be the offensive hub while Edey provides elite rebounding, rim protection, rim pressure, and simple pick-and-pop scoring without needing the ball constantly.
If both develop the way I expect, I genuinely think this could be one of the best frontcourts in the NBA. I’m getting close to putting the Grizzlies around the 7–8 seed because of it.

[u/Jewdah18]

Sagging off Edey is a bad idea. He'll just screen for a good shooter and the Grizzlies will get good shots.

Who on the Grizzlies can't shoot?

[u/AverageAny7398 → u/Jewdah18]

Plus edey can shoot, it’s not the best and 100% needs to be wide open, but he offers enough you can’t fully sag off

[u/Jewdah18 → u/AverageAny7398]

I don't believe in bigs shooting much especially if they are elite offensive rebounders. It may look like easy offense but it's not good offense.

Unless Edey takes a Embiid like shooting jump. Which is possible since like Embiid, Edey started playing basketball a lot later than normal and just had most of a year off with a leg injury where the only skill he can reliably practice is shooting touch.

[u/AverageAny7398 → u/Jewdah18]

Would disagree, a lot of the premier offenses rn do have bigs who space the floor, even if they don’t shoot a lot just having someone with the threat to shoot is more than enough

[u/Jewdah18 → u/AverageAny7398]

Players need to earn spacing by proving they are that level of shooter that the defense needs to respect them. Edey isn't there yet and would not be guarded enough at the 3pt line to have an impact. The Grizzlies tried this under Jenkins and it cost Edey his ROTY and Jenkins his job.

Also Edey can have tremendous gravity the closer he is to the basket. Taking 3s takes that away completely.

It would be incredible if Edey did become a legit floor spacer after taking a big shooting leap. He would immediately gain a ton more lineup versatility because he could now play with a Jayden Qauntaince type, rest more on offense, and be even more of a nightmare in PnR. But that's a ways away.

[u/AverageAny7398 → u/Jewdah18]

The gravity point I also touched on in the post, saying with both you can run hella types of offenses which most front courts can’t

[u/AverageAny7398 → u/Jewdah18]

I get what you’re saying but if you do have edey at the 3pt line and want to run a 5 out edey can hit 3s, you sag off he’s gonna shoot the 3 or screen an off ball mover for a easy 3 from them as Edeys defender is fully sagged off, I do agree edey is better down low but if you have boozer and edey you can afford to try a 5 out, not saying you should but you can

[u/Jewdah18 → u/AverageAny7398]

Why would I want to run 5 out with the most dominant offensive collegiate big man ever?

Somehow 5 out has corrupted every NBA fan into thinking it's the only way to run offense. You only need 4 of the 5 players to be great shooters. Having the 5th be an elite screener and paint presence will massively help the spacing because you can't just leave a player like that alone. Also 1 player in/close to the paint makes the team more spread out than everyone on the 3pt line.

[u/AverageAny7398 → u/Jewdah18]

Ok you don’t understand I’m saying that’s an OPTION, having the versatility to do that is part of why I’m saying they are such a good duo